


Howlin' For You

by justanotherpipedream



Category: Marvel, Marvel 1872
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Western, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Fae Tony, M/M, Mail Order Brides, Sheriff Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-03-29 18:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19025158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherpipedream/pseuds/justanotherpipedream
Summary: When the sun goes down, Sheriff Bucky sets up his rifle, ready to shoot any gnoll, ghoul or beast that tries to raid his small town in the cover of the night. Night after night, Bucky keeps watch, running himself ragged all the while. Worried for his friend, Steve offers a solution to his problem.“So your solution is that I get myself a mail order bride? An’ then what?”“Or groom. We knew you like both options. You need a partner Bucky.”





	Howlin' For You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [james](https://archiveofourown.org/users/james/gifts).



> For the prompt 'Mail Order Bride au' (Old West style) - I tried to combine as many likes as I could. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Special thanks to the lovely Nix who helped me read through parts of this!

He squinted through the half-cracked scope on his rifle, scanning the group ahead. The light of the almost full moon shone brightly against the night sky, cloudless and open. While the extra light helped, it also put Bucky on edge; many monsters loved to take their chances under the banner of the moon.

One, two- four of them, moving together through the brush. Grey, sallow faces snarled at each other as they tried to stay quiet, eyeing the small sleeping town up ahead. Their eye sockets were sunken in, and the small scraps of fabric that wrapped around their bodies the only reminder of their human nature, lost long ago.

Bucky could feel the red star painted on the side of the bone grip thrum in warning, even against his metal arm. He licked his cracked lips, hidden behind the cloth covering half his face, and eyed the ground again. Two of the undead shrieked and snarled at each other as they motioned towards the town again.

Bucky lifted his scope, squinting at the small red pieces of cloth he had tied along the top of the water tower at the edge of town. He waited for a moment and then another letting out a breath as he watched them hang limply, unmoving in the non-existent wind.

Another few deep breaths before Bucky started to count. He flipped the bolt of his rifle up and down, sliding in the clip of silver bullets back into place with a click. Using the bolt, he slid his first one forward. He took a deep breath.

The shot rang out, a blood curdling shriek filled the air before the undead creature collapsed to the ground like a house of cards. Bucky tasted the tingle of magic in the air as he pulled it and shaped it, helping him aim and fire In quick succession, the screams of the living dead filled the air, even after they scattered.

Bucky’s finger was on the trigger, and he scanned the bottom of the bluffs for movement. Slowly, he allowed himself to relax for a short moment. A minute passed before he slowly lowered himself back into position once again.

Again and again, Bucky took aim, shooting his rifle at anything that scrounged towards the town under the cover of the night. He yawned, but shook himself awake, forcing himself to remain vigilant.

The snarl behind him was his only warning before he was tackled from behind. A searing pain shot through his side, but Bucky grit his teeth as he used the momentum to roll to back behind him and not off the edge of the bluff. Flipping himself over, he grabbed his knife from his belt, jabbing the gnoll in the side of the head before grabbing his other knives.

With a flick of his wrist, two knives hit their targets square on and the other two gnolls gurgled, collapsing to the ground in a heap. He watched for a moment, waiting for a twitch of movement to catch his eye.

Satisfied that nothing else was there to ambush him, at least for the moment, Bucky dragged himself back to his rifle. He cursed as he could feel his pulse jump and pump faster than usual, grimacing at the slightly purple tinged blood trail.

He tugged the cloth covering his neck and mouth and wrapped it tightly around the wound. Gingerly he leaned over to grab his rifle, taking up his watch once again.

* * *

The cloying scent of smelling salts had Bucky snapping awake, his hand batting away the awful smell as quickly as possible. Seconds later, he felt the sting of the alcohol against his ribs as someone, Steve probably, jabbed at his side. “Geez Bucky. Okay hold on. Here let me-”

Steve sighed as he helped up into a sitting position, eyes locked onto the giant bite on Bucky’s side. Bucky frowned. “Don’t give me that look- I even disinfected this time like you said-”

Steve hummed, raising his hand for silence. Bucky could feel the magic vibrate in the air as the pixie began to sing, holding out a metal bowl underneath Bucky’s side. Bucky could feel the song pulling the purple blood into the bowl. Slowly but surely, the blood dripping into the bowl turned from a dark purple to red once again.

Satisfied, Steve tightened his makeshift bandages, mostly strips of cloth mostly, with a sigh. “You almost died out there. Again.”

Bucky waved his friend away. His metal arm grasped beside him a few times before Bucky scanned the room in a panic. He slumped in relief when he saw his rifle propped up against the wall by the door. He leaned against the headboard of his bed. “I’m fine Steve-”

“No, you really aren’t. It takes time for your magic to stitch everything back together. And at the rate you’re going, it won’t catch up in time- are you even listening to me, _sit down you asshole._ ”

Bucky wheezed as Steve shoved him back down. Steve’s arms were lean and bony, but his sheer stubbornness could easily make up for more than a handful of men. Steve gently poked at his chest with nasty smelling salve. “If even _I_ can hold you down, you know it’s bad.”

Bucky tried to hold back another wince at Steve’s fretting. ”Look, I’ll take it easy- don’t give me that look, I’m still lying down! Eventually though, you you know I have to go back out there-”

Steve clenched his fists. “I can help you-”

Bucky shook his head. “You are. You’re the town’s healer Steve, the _only_ healer. I can’t risk having you out there-”

“I know,” sighed Steve. “But you can’t keep doing this Bucky. You need _someone_ to help-”

“I know I do. But what choice do we have? The city’s stretched thin as it is, there’s no way they’re gonna send Timely any help, with us in the middle of nowhere.”

“I might have a solution for that,” said Steve. He rushed over to the jacket tossed over Bucky’s table and rummaged through the pockets. He pulled out a roll of papers, gently smoothing them out before holding them out to Bucky. “Natasha pulled some favours, wrote to some friends in the city to put together some options. Said she knew of some friends who might be able to help.”

Pictures were clipped to each page of the stack, of the catalogue really, of men and women, interested in starting a correspondence for chances of finding a partner. Bucky almost dropped the papers like they burned him. “This- this is-”

“Natasha already vetted most of them out,” continued Steve. He tilted his head to tap on the page. “All of these candidates were the most likely to be of some help to you and the town. Plus, she-might-have-already-sent-out-your-picture-so-”

“Wait, what?”

“Natasha acted as your sponsor,” said Steve, “So you don’t have to go through that waiting period before being matched with someone. Everyone here already agreed to a correspondence, so you just hafta pick someone and start writing-”

“So your solution is that I get myself a mail order bride? An’ then what?”

“Or groom. We knew you like both options.”

Steve squeezed Bucky’s arm gently. “You need a partner Bucky. Someone who won’t set your instincts off, or will get killed out there working with you. I know it’s not the traditional way to do things, or maybe the most romantic, but hopefully with time-”

Bucky slumped, closing his eyes. “You said she vetted them?”

The saloon owner was nothing if not good at reading people, and if Natasha had gone through the list, hopefully at least one of them would appease Bucky’s instincts. He scanned through them one by one, until he reached the third page.

The man, Tony, had floppy brown hair and a well-groomed goatee that framed his face. His clothes looked like they cost more than what Bucky could make in his entire lifetime,  and would probably fit right in on the posh streets of one of the bigger cities. Normally, Bucky wouldn’t even consider himself in a league of a man like this, but something in his eyes, staring defiantly at the camera, almost daring him to say otherwise, had Bucky pausing.

“What’s his story?”

Bucky almost regretted asking when Steve’s grin split his face. “Heh. Natasha was betting you’d pick him. She said he was exactly your type. Good thing too, she had to claim a big favour from her friend Janet-”

“Seriously Steve-”

“Fine, fine. Look here-” Steve waved a blank piece of paper. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

* * *

_Dear Anthony,_

_I’ve never written something like this before, so I’m sorry if I get something wrong. Natasha said that you’d be agreeable to a match so I’m gonna be upfront here. Life with me won’t be easy. Timely’s a small town in the middle of nowhere, so things won’t be as fast paced as they are in the city, but it’s home._

_It’ll be much more dangerous too; raids on the town are regular occurrences, and my duty, my primary duty, is to protect the people. It’ll be a life of hard work and long nights, and I’ll admit, I probably won’t be the easiest to live with. I’m looking for a partner who’ll help share the work, and also someone who won’t be afraid of a harder life.  So if that’s something that you’re agreeable to, well I’d be glad to get to know you further._

_Sincerely,_

_James Barnes_

* * *

_Dear James,_

_I’ll admit, I’ve written a few of these letters before, but none have been as intriguing or refreshingly honest as yours was. I’m not entirely sure how fast news travels out there, but if you’re familiar with the happenings with the Stark family name in the news, you’ll understand how a quiet life away from the city is honestly something I’ve been hoping for._

_With the way that you’re writing, I’m assuming that your friend Natasha hasn’t mentioned much about my background. Compared to the gossip vultures of the city, to the hounds of the press, the hard work of a small town life sounds much more fulfilling. At least, it won’t be a boring life by the sounds of it._

_I guess it’s my turn isn’t it? I will steal all the blankets, no matter the season. I can’t cook to save my life, so unless you can, we’re gonna probably have to eat out a lot. I will get lost in thought sometimes, I promise I’m not ignoring you on purpose. I have a bunch of projects and will take up a lot of space, so if you don’t want things spilling everywhere, I’d need a workshop or shed to work in._

_And while explosives and creating weapons are my namesake, they are links to my past I would much rather retire. However, that does not mean I would object to finding ways to help you with your nighttime raids. If you’ve got some builders, or a blacksmith, hopefully this blueprint will be of some use to help you a bit._

_I look forward to hearing from you._

_My friends call me,_

_Tony_

* * *

Bucky couldn’t help the grin on his face as he scanned the letter for a hundredth time. Even only after exchanging letters for a few months, Bucky couldn’t help but feel excited with every new letter he received from Tony.

“What’s got you all giddy sheriff?”

In a flash, Bucky slid the piece of paper out of sight. Natasha stared down at him unimpressed. She slid his plate of breakfast onto the table before crossing her arms. “You do realize I’m standing right here. I can see the letter you tried to hide sticking out of your coat. What did Tony say?”

Bucky scowled. “Not so loud.”

Natasha rolled her eyes as she motioned to the almost empty saloon around her. It was still late, or rather early enough, that anyone within earshot would be either too drunk, or too tired to pay attention. “You’re fine. Now come on Barnes, spill.”

Bucky glanced around the room before lowering his voice. “He sent a drawing he did.”

Natasha’s eyes glinted. Bucky did his best not to react; the saloon owner always somehow managed to lock onto his weaknesses almost immediately. She pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. “Let me see.”

It was a sketch of a long metal claw with a larger metal body. Tony had called him his mechanical assistant. It had little hearts drawn around it, with the inscription of “DUM-E in his natural habitat.”

“That’s so adorable, I can’t even make fun of you for swooning like Clint when he drinks his morning coffee,” said Natasha. “When are you going to ask him to marry you?”

Bucky coughed. “You don’t think it’s too soon?”

Natasha eyed the sketch and letter on the table. “This is the third gift he’s sent down yes? According to high society courting, he’s practically screaming at you to propose. And, from what I’ve heard from Jan-”

“You’ve been talking to Jan?”

“Obviously,” said Natasha. “He’s been impatiently waiting for a good while. And it’s not like you haven’t collected an overflowing stack of letters yourself. Besides-”

Natasha scanned Bucky’s uniform, her lips pursing as she took note of the spots covered in dried blood and dirt. “I think, if you don’t at least tell him how dire thing are, I will. Or maybe I’ll get Sam to do it for me...he always has a way with words-”

Bucky narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you dare. Sam would propose to him just to spite me.”

“You better get a move on then.” Natasha got to her feet. Her eyes were locked onto the bright red star that gleamed on the side of his rifle. “Otherwise they’ll eat us all alive soon enough. ”

* * *

The fact that everyone was actually jam packed into the saloon at this hour should’ve been a give away to Bucky that something was up. Clint and Sam were hunched over in the far corner, whispering back and forth instead of bickering like they usually were. Kamala and MJ were taking a longer lunch than usual, giggling and gossiping with a jug of lemonade between them. Even _Bruce_ of all people was working away in the saloon today, a stack of papers piled high on his table as he frowned into his book.

However after a long night, Bucky didn’t feel like paying any attention to whatever caught the attention of the small town gossip wheel this time.He ignored the buzzing in the saloon, too tired to do anything but collapse into his usual table in the corner with a groan.

“Rough night sugar?”

Bucky’s head snapped up. One of the fair folk sat across from him, dressed meticulously in a clean pressed shirt and dark pants. Bucky rubbed his eyes and blinked again, but Tony was still there smiling at him and glowing in the soft morning light. The photographs Tony had sent had nothing on seeing him in person. His hair was ruffled just right, and it was sappy and cliche but he took Bucky’s breath away.

“You flatter me sweet pea,” answered Tony with a laugh, “and while I’d love to take all the credit, It’s probably the glamour.”

He waved his hand through the air, almost cutting through it with his hand, and Bucky could make out a slight shimmer in the air around the fae. Bucky could swear that Tony’s eyes twinkled. Tony winked. “I will happily accept any and all compliments though.”

Bucky gently grabbed Tony’s hand in his. “Darlin’ I’d be happy to tell you every day how gorgeous you are, even without the glamour.”

Tony laughed, squeezing Bucky’s hand in return. His hand was cool, but Bucky feel the thrum of magic vibrating just underneath his skin.

“Flatterer.”

“But you love it.”

“Only because it’s you,” said Tony. He glanced around. “And as much as I love attention-”

Bucky glared at their captivated audience, all of whom swivelled back to their conversations a moment later. “Sorry bout them. We don’t usually get many out of town visitors.”

Tony intertwined their fingers. While the back of his hands were soft, Bucky could feel the rough ridged calluses in Tony’s fingertips. With a gentle tug, Tony pulled Bucky to his feet. “I hope you don’t mind that I dropped all my trunks off at your place when I got here.”

“Of course not,” answered Bucky. “I’m only sorry I wasn’t there to greet you.”

The heat of the morning sun already had Bucky sweating as they stepped outside, but even that had nothing on the warmth Bucky felt with Tony’s hand in his. Bucky glanced around, “So where did you wanna go first? There’s not much but-”

Tony shook his head. “You’re swaying on your feet sheriff. Let’s get you to bed.”

“My, my- so forward Mr. Stark-” Bucky waggled his eyebrows in response.

“To _sleep_ ”, corrected Tony fondly. He squeezed Bucky’s hand. “You can give me the grand tour and ravish me later. For now, let’s get you some sleep future husband of mine.”

Satisfaction settled deep in his gut at those words. While his instincts could be frustrating, for once, Bucky wasn’t fighting them this time. Tony’s scent was spicy and warm, like one of Natasha’s apple pies fresh out of the oven. He nuzzled Tony with a grin. “You promise?”

“ _Later._ After I’m sure you’re not tired enough to collapse standing up. Come on darling, let’s get you home.”

* * *

Bucky adjusted his scarf, resisting to scratch at his neck again. He tried to ignore that familiar itch under his skin as he stared through his scope again. The full moon peeked through the patches of clouds in the sky, casting its light in the dark dessert. And while Bucky was usually tense enough on nights like these, tonight he was even more antsy, counting the hours until the sun would rise and he could return home.

To  _their_ home.

Bucky shook his head, drawing in another deep breath before trying to settle his mind as he scanned the area again.

“So this is where you hide out every few nights.”

Bucky whirled around, his finger ready to pull the trigger. Tony wiggled his fingers as he crouched a few feet behind Bucky. Bucky lowered his gun. “Don’t do that, I could’ve shot you-”

“You _could’ve_ , but I know you wouldn’t,” said Tony. He snapped his fingers and they glowed red as the blanket that had slipped off of Bucky’s shoulders earlier draped itself back around the sheriff. Tony crawled over, using his arms to wiggle himself next to Bucky. “So, anything interesting so far?”

Bucky blinked. “A few things here and there, but not much until you showed up. What are you doing here?”

Tony leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Bucky’s nose. Bucky’s mind short circuited for a while, even as Tony continued on “-so I’m here to take your spot.”

“What?”

Bucky could only stare as he watched Tony pull the shadows out of the air, twisting them into a sleek and shimmering rifle. Tony hummed, as he checked the grip. “Steve mentioned how it’s been ages since you’ve had a chance to run around and re-establish your territory.”

“I’m fine-”

“I can see you twitching and vibrating under your skin sugarplum. You’ve already given me a home, let me help you protect it.”

Tony caressed Bucky’s face with his hand. “I’ll be perfectly safe up here. You won’t let them near me right?”

Something dark and visceral flared up within Bucky at the thought. “They won’t even get close.”

“Good,” said Tony with satisfaction, “Just like you won’t let them hurt me, I won’t let them overwhelm you. I’ll cover your back. Here, I’ll show you.”

With smooth movements, Tony spun his rifle around, flipping the bolt up and down in a blur, two shots echoing into the bluffs below. Bucky squinted through his scope, letting out a breath as he saw two of the giant glowing scorpions sway before collapsing onto the ground, unmoving.

Bucky scanned the rest of the area, relaxing only once he was satisfied that nothing else was moving towards them. Tony was leaning against his fist with a smile. “Not as fast as the infamous Winter Soldier of course, but I can hold my own.”

Bucky set down his rifle beside him. “Don’t be modest. That was impressive. You’re better than most my officers.”

Tony beamed as Bucky cupped his cheeks with both hands. Bucky exhaled softly. “I trust you. I love you.”

Bucky let Tony tug his scarf down, closing his eyes as Tony leaned in for a kiss. His lips were soft and warm, and Bucky chased them with a groan after Tony pulled away. Tony’s eyes were soft. “I love you too. We’ve got all the time in the world for that later. Go, while the night’s still young. Stay safe, and have fun.”

Folding his clothes in a pile, Bucky stepped out of the last of his clothing. Tony’s gaze was heavy and appreciative, and Bucky couldn’t help but preen as he showed off for his mate to be.

For the first time in months, Bucky felt eager to have someone else watch his back while he allowed himself to run. He closed his eyes as he felt the transformation shudder through him, finally letting the wolf side of him to the surface after holding on for so long. Finally, a giant black wolf shook his fur as he surveyed the area. Bucky the wolf licked his lips.

Later, he would take Tony home and finish what they started.

For now, Bucky nuzzled his mate with a lick and took off into the night with a howl.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't resist adding in a magical werewolf transformation ahaha. I hope you enjoyed that - let me know what you think!


End file.
